The Lady In Red
by Mallory102402
Summary: Join Rose in her quest to protect Lissa and a mysterious woman who leads a group of Egyptian Moroi. Things grow even more complicated when she meets a young woman in a red dress. Will things work out as planned? Or will Rose crash and burn?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Dream

I was awoken by my own screams. I panted, still terrified. The Dream seemed too real, too much like my time in Siberia.

"It's okay, Roza. It was only a dream," Dimitri's comforting voice murmured into my ear. I smiled. He was here. He was with me. He would never leave me again. He would never be that monster again. I glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside our bed.

"Crap." I was late. And I had been doing so good lately, always punctual. I jumped out of bed, The Dream forgotten. I gathered my clothes, the stretchy white blouse, short black jacket, and black pants.

I pulled my dark brown hair into a ponytail, revealing my promise and molnija marks. "Bye, I'll see you tonight."

As I walked down the stairway of my apartment building, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. Lissa had texted me.

ROSE! You're late. DO NOT make me

angry today. Spirit is in full swing.

I rolled my eyes. But, I was pretty late. Tina must be ticked. I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you about myself. My name is Rose Hathaway, and I am a dhampir. Half Moroi, half human. First of all, vampires are real. There are two types, Moroi and Strigoi. Moroi are living vampires, and don't kill when they feed. Strigoi are undead, evil, creatures that have no soul. They kill when they feed. Dhampirs inherit Moroi immunity to sickness, agility, and human brawn. Moroi are tall, super- slim, pale, and have no curves.

Dhampirs protect Moroi, and those who do this are called guardians. I was the Moroi Queen's, Lissa, guardian. Lissa's full name was Vasilisa Dragomir, the last of the Dragomir line. Or so we thought. Lissa had a half-sister, Jill. Even if she wasn't a full Dragomir, she was what Lissa needed to be queen.

I arrived at Lissa's swanky townhouse in the middle of Court. A large crowd of people surrounded it. I guess that wasn't too surprising, considering Lissa was meeting with the leader of a group of Moroi in Egypt ( we recently discovered them). I just couldn't figure out how they knew.

I pushed my way through the crowd, and tons of reporters started yelling my name. They did that everywhere I went, probably because of my scandalous relationship with Dimitri.

I slipped into Lissa's clean home and walked to her study, where they were meeting.

"Rose!" She exclaimed when I entered the large study at the back of the house. "Rose, this is Salma Amina Lujain Neferet, leader of the Egyptian Moroi." Salma Neferet was a short (by Moroi standards), skinny woman. Not normal slim, but stick skinny.

"Hello, you are Rosemarie Hathaway, I presume. Call me Amina, I hate Salma and Lujain," Amina stood up and stuck out her hand, and I shook it as I walked to the back of the study.

"Tina, I'm so sorry," I said, talking to Lissa's live-in guardian. Tina didn't look at me, she simply shook her head and did the see-without-seeing thing all guardians did.

"Amina, I insist we discuss this over breakfast. I believe I hear stomachs growling, Rose's in particular." Lissa pointed to one of the other guardians in the room, who rushed out to get breakfast. She was right. My stomach was growling loudly, and I think she was embarrassed.

"So, Amina, we are in agreement?"

"Yes, Vasilisa. I will stay here for a few weeks, provided I may invite my counsel to come as well.'

"Of course. I have a guardian ready for you. Rose, please summon Guardian Alberta Petrov."

I nodded and took my phone out of my pocket to text Alberta.

Queen Vasilisa requests your pres-

ence at her home and wishes for you

to guard Salma Amina Lujain Neferet,

leader of the Egyptian Moroi.

I was always formal with Alberta, to show her I had matured since St. Vladimir's Academy. A few seconds later, my phone vibrated.

Ok. OTW.

I sighed. I typed that long text with all the appropriate terms, and she types quickly with an acronym.

My phone vibrated again. I was confused. Who else would be texting me?

I had to leave. Daniel Ivashkov wants

to go to England. He wants to meet

the queen, apparently. Don't quite

know how that will work out, but if

he tells me to jump, I have to jump.

I will see you in five days. I love you.

Well, there goes my plan to have a romantic dinner with Dimitri.

"Rose." Lissa said. "What did Alberta say?"

"She is on her way."

Lissa began to say something, but was cut off when Alberta walked into the room.

"Ms. Neferet," she said, nodding, and walked back to me. "Alright, Rose?"

"Just fine, Guardian Petrov."

She chuckled, "Always so formal. Loosen up, Hathaway."

The meeting took four more hours, and included a hearty lunch. Lissa rushed up to me when Amina left.

"Oh, I was praying Reggie wouldn't wake up and ruin it for us. I love him to death, but sometimes he can be a nuisance, especially when I'm doing business." She rested her left hand on her desk, revealing an extravagant diamond ring on her ring finger.

"Woah. I see Christian updated your wedding ring."

She blushed slightly. Even after three years of marriage, she still didn't like to talk about it.

"Mama!" Little Reggie wailed from upstairs.

"Coming, sweetheart!" Lissa rushed out to the aid of her son. She froze in the doorway. "Rose, will you come with me? Reggie adores you."

I followed Lissa up her ornate staircase and wondered when I would see Dimitri again.

I arrived home, exhausted from my lengthy day. I decided to take the elevator instead of climbing the stairs. When it stopped on my floor, I walked to apartment 8B. I walked in, not bothering to turn on the lights.

"Hello, dear." I nearly jumped out of my skin when Abe Mazur turned on the lamp beside my armchair.

"What are you doing here, old man?"

"Your mother and I are just visiting."

I then noticed the short woman with auburn, wavy, cropped hair beside him.

"Hey, Mom." I walked over to her and gave her an awkward hug. "Not that I mind you guys being here, but I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll go to bed. Feel free to do whatever." I walked back to my bedroom and closed the door. I sluggishly put on pajamas and got in bed. And slowly, the black waters of sleep enveloped me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Visitor

"Rose. Rose. Rose! Rose, wake up! You don't want to be late." A voice said, then someone began shaking me out of the dark clutches of sleep.

"Uh-uh." I moaned and rolled over.

"Rose, if you don't get your butt out of bed RIGHT NOW, I will get a bucket of cold water and dump it over your head." I paid no heed to the insistent voice, and soon another voice joined it.

"You want me to do it?" This one was male.

"Go ahead," the female voice said.

I heard the sounds of water sploshing in a pot. I heard the bucket start to slowly turn over. SPLASH! The water spilled out and I felt it. It filled my open mouth and nostrils. It soaked my hair and sheets. It was freezing. I jumped up, angry. I opened my eyes and couldn't see, water fell off my head and into them. A towel was thrown on my face.

"WHO DID THIS?" I sputtered.

"Umm, we did," said the male voice sarcastically. The towel was still on my face, so I couldn't see him.

I yanked it off. "Mom? Abe?"

My mother's face showed signs of annoyance, but Abe's held a grin as wide as the Mississippi River.

"Yes, dear. Come, we made breakfast," Mom said.

They had prepared eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. When I say they, I mean my mother. Abe couldn't cook if his life relied on it. Of course, I wasn't quite sure where Janine Hathaway, esteemed guardian and Strigoi slayer, learned how to cook.

"How did you get into my apartment?" I asked, and took a sip of orange juice.

"We stayed the night in your guest bedroom," Abe said.

I nearly choked on my juice. "WE?"

"Yes, Rose, WE," my mother was obviously aggravated.

"Well, do spare me the details," I said as I finished my breakfast. "I have to get going. Will you please leave before I go?" There was an edge to my voice, and my mother noticed.

"Fine, fine, we'll leave." She walked out of the kitchen, hugging my head as she passed. I heard them discussing good hotels at Court, and I resisted the urge to vomit.

I walked to the little café about a hundred yards from my apartment building. Most mornings, I went there to get coffee, it helped me get through my long day.

"Hey Rose, your usual?" the barista asked.

"Yes, Chester. Except, today, I want a vanilla bean latte as well." Lissa had asked me to get her a latte.

Chester handed me the coffee, and I walked out, almost dropping it when I barged into someone.

"Adrian!" I was surprised. Adrian Ivashkov was someone I hadn't expected to see anytime soon. Last I had heard, he was studying some spirit-keeping-people-from-becoming-Strigoi thing.

"Huh? Oh, hi, Rose." He looked depressed, I had never seen him like that. I smelled whiskey, or tequila, or brandy, or some other kind of alcohol on his breath. He took out a cigarette.

"I thought you quit?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah, I did. Hey, Rose, can I talk to you in private?"

"Of course." I, now knowing more about Court than he, led him to a secluded garden.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Rose, I never told you this, but Sydney and I, we're together." Sydney was an Alchemist who was working with Adrian in Palm Springs, and was also there to help protect Jill, Lissa's half-sister. There had been an attempt to assassinate her. Well, technically, she had died, but Adrian brought her back to life, forming a bond between them, exactly like the bond Lissa and I used to have.

This came as quite a shock, seeing Sydney thought all vampires- even half vampires- were evil creatures of the night.

"That can't be what you're upset about," I said.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm upset because the Alchemists took her. They found out about us."

"Why don't you talk to her in a dream, find out where she is, and break her out? I'll help you break her out."

He shook his head, for about the seventeenth time that day. "I've tried. I can't reach her. I.. I just don't know what happened, Rose. I miss her so much."

"I know," I said. "It doesn't get easier. You feel it every day, gnawing at you, at your soul." It was the first time I had talked about how I felt without Dimitri to anyone other than Dimitri. "All you want, all you'll want when she's gone, is her," I finished my sentence with a wistful look, recalling harder times.

His shoulders shook with sobs. My eyes widened, I had never seen him cry. Sydney must be really special to him.

I glanced at my watch. "Look, Adrian, I have to get to work. I'll find you after." I walked away from the garden, and all I heard were his depressing wails.

"Did you get my coffee?" Lissa asked as soon as I walked in, bouncing Reggie on her hip.

Reggie was small for his age (two), and had Christian's dark hair and Lissa's green eyes.

"Auntie Rose!" He yelled when he saw me. I stuck out my arms and Lissa handed him to me.

"There's my favorite boy! And yes, Lis, I did get your coffee." She yanked the latte out of my hand and took a long sip.

"Amina's counsel arrived today. Visiting them is the first thing on our agenda."

"Okay, are we bringing Prince Reginald?" I asked in a mock professional voice and tickled Reggie on the stomach.

"Yes, a woman on Amina's counsel has a son his age, so I figured they could play together," Lissa smiled at him, "Now, Reggie, I want you to be a good boy for Mommy and Aunt Rose, okay?"

"Yes, Mommy," Reggie leaned forward and Lissa did the same. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Lissa smiled again. I was so thankful she had Reggie. She smiled more. He seemed to help her stay away from insanity.

Amina and her counsel were staying at one of the many hotels at Court. It was far from Lissa's home, so we took a SUV over to the Casa De Blanca, a hotel that had a Spanish theme.

Lissa walked to the front desk- with an escort of guardians, of course- and asked the man there what floor Amina and her counsel were staying on.

Lissa walked to the elevator, which only had room for four. So, three guardians rode with her and the other seven climbed the stairs.

We found the dining room for that floor, knowing everyone would be at breakfast, considering the early hour of the vampire nocturnal schedule.

"Queen Vasilisa!" A guardian said, surprised. Lissa nodded her head slightly, and walked on, remembering to be haughty, queen-like.

The tempting aroma of bacon and French toast reached my nose. Even though I had already eaten, I wanted more. It took a lot to power my dhampir metabolism.

The Egyptian Moroi weren't in the dining room, but a waitress told us they had moved to the lounge. So, we walked on.

The lounge was at the other end of the hall, so it didn't take long to get there.

The lounge was not really a lounge. It felt more like a cozy living room, with comfy couches, and a sixty inch flat screen television.

Amina was sprawled on a leather loveseat, and her counsel surrounded her, all sitting primly in chairs, with legs crossed.

The first thing I noticed about them was that they were all women. The second thing was that they all dressed the same. Blue slacks, a white button-up, and a blue jacket.

A little boy played with a train at the far end of the room, and I set Reggie down so he could go play with him. He ran off, and Lissa walked to the youngest in Amina's counsel.

"Rebecca. Thank you for providing toys for my son to play with."

Rebecca smiled, "It's my pleasure. Thomas needed someone to play with." She had a slight British accent, and I wondered why she was part of the Egyptian Moroi.

Lissa began a conversation with the counsel, and I grew bored, so I walked to Reggie and Thomas. They built block towers and then knocked them down, over and over and over again. They never seemed to grow tired of it.

Alberta came up to me. I had forgotten she was guarding Amina.

"Don't you miss that? Being amused by the simplest things?" I asked her quietly.

"Yes. Yes, I do. But, I love what I do. I protect that, that childhood innocence. When I was a kid, 'What are you going to be when you grow up?' was not a question I got asked. I trained, with no option to do something else. Back then, all I wanted was to be different than the other dhampirs. Now, all I want is to protect that, and give them a chance to have a life. I don't regret any of it."

"I don't either," I said to myself. "I don't either.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:Lemons Or Grapes

I always found the quote "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," rather boring. First of all, it's quite predictable. Second, it's pretty much impossible to make lemonade when life gives you lemons. And third, I've always preferred grapes.

The five days was up. Dimitri was coming home. At least, that's what I thought.

I'm sorry, Rose. Daniel didn't meet

the queen, so we have to stay until

he does. It could be 3 days or 3

weeks. I miss you.

Love, Dimitri

He hadn't sent the message from his phone, which explained the "Love, Dimitri" part. I sighed. It felt like I was never going to see him again.

I needed cheering up, so I decided to go find Lissa. I walked to her townhouse, where she usually was. No offense to her, but since she had gotten married, she was kind of a homebody.

I rang her doorbell until I heard someone's footsteps. It was not Lissa that answered, though.

"Christian!" I practically yelled. Lissa worked all the time, and Christian was often away. He just enjoyed traveling, even if the time away from his family killed him.

"Hello, Rose." Christian wasn't nearly as excited to see me as I was to see him.

He opened the door wider to let me in. The beauty of Lissa's home never ceased to amaze me. High ceilings, gorgeous murals that took up entire walls, and black oak hardwood floors.

Lissa, of course, was the prettiest thing in her home. She walked gracefully down the staircase in a pink dress. She stopped at the bottom and I got a good look at her.

Her long, platinum blond hair was curled, her pale jade eyes were framed in a soft pink eye-shadow, and her long eyelashes were made even longer with mascara. She wore a flouncy, pink sundress that showed off her long legs.

"Is that what you wear for a night at home?" I asked, laughing.

She giggled. "I was expecting you. Daniel told me he wouldn't be back for awhile. So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

"It's not too late, why don't we go shopping? Your paycheck is at the guardian office, and you got a big bonus!"

"Okay," I agreed. "But if you're wearing that, I'm going to change."

Christian had shut the door and then walked to Lissa. His expression was full of pain. "I thought we were going to have a romantic evening together." Lissa's smile turned into a frown. After being together for so long, she and Christian were able to have entire conversations without saying a word. That appeared to be what was happening now.

Their eyes locked for a few moments more, then Christian sighed. "Fine."

Lissa's face was triumphant, but then her eyes widened. She put an elegant hand up to her mouth and ran to the hall bathroom. Christian looked worried. "She's been throwing up all day. I have no idea why."

Lissa then emerged from the bathroom, looking slightly troubled, but otherwise okay. "Come on, Rose, we need to get going."

We stopped my apartment to find me a change of clothes, and Lissa insisted on putting makeup on me.

"Liss," I moaned. "I'm already wearing this dress, please, no makeup." But, Lissa wouldn't budge.

She had dressed me in a dress similar to hers, except it was a faint yellow and had canary yellow stitching at the top. She wanted me to wear high heels, as she had, but that was the one thing she couldn't get me to do. I opted for a stylish- but comfortable- pair of sandals.

We went to one of the most elite stores at Court, a place called "Royal." The shop's prices were far to outrageous for my budget, however, so we had to go to a cheaper store.

This time we went to a place called "Glacier." This time, I knew for a fact the clothes would be in my budget, because I shopped here all the time. In fact, they provided the guardian uniforms, and all guardians got a twenty-five percent discount.

Glacier was a white store. I don't mean they were racist, everything in there- aside from the clothes –was white. White floors, white ceiling, and white furniture.

Lissa and I sat down and waited for a sales person to come see us. At Glacier, someone came and saw you, you told them your name, size, and they took a picture of you. Then, they went and picked out clothes for you.

"Wine?" A young woman holding a tray full of wine glasses asked us. We nodded. I sipped and gasped. This wine wasn't cheap. And they gave it to you for free. I glanced over at Lissa, wondering if she'd had the same reaction as I. Instead of swallowing her wine after sipping, she spit it back into her glass. "It's how the French drink it," she said feebly.

A wave of realization washed over me. My mouth hung open, and I looked at her, waiting for her to affirm my suspicions.

"Yes, it's true. You're right. I wasn't sure until today. Dr. Spivok told me. I'm two months along."

We talked nothing more about it. "How are things with Christian?"

"Not so good. He's distant, like he wants nothing to do with me. Things were fine two months ago."

"Well, duh," I said. "Otherwise…." That made her laugh.

And so the minutes ticked by, I drank my wine, she asked for a glass of water, and we chatted.

Finally, a man came up. "Hi, I'm Pepper, I'll be finding you lovely ladies your perfect wardrobe today. Do you have any questions about Glacier or our clothing?"

"Yes," Lissa said. "Do you carry maternity clothes?"


End file.
